Blue Bird Secrets
by Idan
Summary: Sequel to Violet Secrets, which was a sequel to Secrets. What's a groom to do when his bride won't take time off work? Trick her into a honeymoon, of course! How Blue Bird might happen in the Secrets universe. Spoilers for the episode.


**Disclaimer**: What I own of The Mentalist: None. Nada. Zip. Nought.

**Author's Note**: There can't be too many AU versions of Blue Bird, right? This set out to be a happy little romp, but parts of it got angsty like the episode. Hope it's not too much!

**Blue Bird Secrets**

Jane woke slowly, his head fuzzy from champagne and his body achy from the exertions of the night. The bed was a wreck, with the single sheet twisted around him and the duvet doubtless somewhere on the floor, possibly having eloped with his pillow. He turned over, freeing himself and smiling as he took in the sight of his wife of less than 24 hours.

Lisbon had been up in the night, doubtless to visit the bathroom. She'd claimed a pillow and put her nightshirt on, though at least she'd chosen the one with buttons for him to play with. Her left hand, adorned with the gleaming wedding band in addition to the emerald and diamond engagement ring, rested on her ribcage, just above the gentle swell of her belly where their baby rested.

As wedding nights went, he'd acquitted himself well, he thought. Not that he hadn't seized every opportunity to practice beforehand that Lisbon would allow. She was glowing, and he was drawn to her radiance like a moth to the flame, instinctive and irresistible.

He wished they were taking a honeymoon, even a short one, to devote themselves to enjoying each other. But Lisbon was determined to save her few leave days for after the baby was born, so the best they could do was get married on Friday evening and hope nobody important got murdered before Monday. Or so everyone thought.

Patrick Jane had other ideas.

He gently pushed Lisbon's nightshirt up, noting with delight that she hadn't bothered with panties, and pressed a kiss to the baby bump. "Good morning," he whispered to it. "It's going to be another good day for you, growing and developing and getting ready to come out and meet us. We can't wait to see you." After another kiss, he laid his cheek against the bump, imagining the tiny little person growing in there, held safe in Lisbon's small, strong body.

He hoped he would find a way to manage his fears once he was holding the baby in his arms, though. He wanted this child with a ferocity that was almost shocking to him, but he was terrified at being responsible for another person again. He'd failed so completely to keep Charlotte safe; how could he avoid similar mistakes with her little brother or sister? He could resolve to be on his guard every minute of every day, but human nature dictated that sometimes he'd be tired, or distracted, or just plain careless.

In the end, he was relying on Lisbon's mother bear protectiveness to ensure their child's safety. She'd pick up his slack, and her instincts were sound.

They could do this together. He was grateful she'd come around to that realization too, once she'd gotten past her panic at finding herself pregnant. Coming to terms with the fact that her life was not entirely within her control anymore, that she couldn't pretend things were like they used to be, had taken her some time.

The fact that he'd done his best to take care of her regardless of how things stood between them at any given moment had worked in his favor. He wasn't sure whether her agreeing to marry him was due more to the realization that she would want help as her body changed, her religious convictions, her desire to give their child a stable, loving home, or her admitting that she did in fact love him, but it didn't matter. He was just glad she had. He had no doubts that they would make this family work, though it would definitely be a challenge balancing it with their jobs.

"I love you so much," he whispered to the baby before opening his eyes.

Lisbon was awake, smiling at him tenderly. "Good morning," she said.

"Good morning," he smiled back. "How are you feeling today?"

"Good," she replied. "You?"

He grinned, sliding up to lie alongside her. "I feel great. I feel...happy."

"That's good." She laid a hand on his cheek as he leaned in to kiss her. "Mm. Because you know I believe marriage is forever. You're stuck now."

"And glad to be," he replied. "I want to spend my mornings with you for the rest of my life. You and our little bump."

"That little bump is going to be a big bump before long," she said dryly. "And then an actual baby. Who will eventually grow up and move out."

"No," he teased her. "I expect this kid to live with us forever."

"No college?"

"There's a college here. Hey, he can be an FBI agent and work with us, too!"

Lisbon grimaced. "Only if she's more like me than you."

"Of course," he chuckled.

Lisbon moved her fingers through his hair, making him close his eyes in bliss. When he opened them again, she was looking at him in concern. "You're telling me you're going to have serious separation anxiety, aren't you?"

"Afraid so," he admitted. "I already do, with you. I'd stay home with the baby if Abbott would let me."

"But he won't. I...I guess I could. For a while."

He chuckled at her dubious tone. Lisbon needed to work; he had no doubt of that. And he didn't want to work without her. "As long as you want to, darling. But we can start interviewing nannies whenever you want."

"I'll let you know," she said. "But for more immediate concerns, how about breakfast?"

"And what does my lovely wife want for breakfast?"

She sighed. "Your lovely wife wants coffee and a bearclaw. But your kid wants eggs and toast. Oh, and prune juice. Ew." She wrinkled her nose. "How can I crave something I hate?"

"I have no idea," he grinned, kissing the tip of her adorable nose. "But if it's prune juice you want, prune juice you shall have."

"Oh, and hash browns?" she asked hopefully.

"Coming right up." He shifted to get up, his morning erection brushing her thigh.

"Not so fast," she protested. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Hm. I think I am. What could it be?" He tapped his lips with a finger.

Lisbon rolled over, efficiently pinning him to the bed. Then she sat up and stripped off her shirt.

Jane grinned up at her. "I love the second trimester."

mmm

They managed to finish breakfast before the phone rang. It was Abbott calling Lisbon, probably because he knew Jane wouldn't answer, Jane thought with a smile he hid from his unsuspecting wife.

"Yes, sir," she said, frowning. "I understand. We'll be right there."

She sighed as she hung up the phone. "That was Abbott."

"Not calling to wish us a happy first day of marriage, I take it," Jane said.

"No. Some big case he needs us for. Let's go."

They went about a quick version of their morning routine, exchanging a kiss as they closed the house door to mark their transition from lovers to colleagues for the day. They drove in together; Jane took the wheel so Lisbon could savor her only cup of real coffee for the day.

Soon they were seated in the briefing area. Cho was already there, but Fischer joined them a minute later, hair still damp. Jane surmised that he and Lisbon hadn't been the only ones planning on a weekend off.

Abbott took the podium, holding up a letter in plastic. "This letter was sent to Chief Agent Schultz," he announced, "by U.S. mail, arriving an hour ago."

Jane was gratified to watch his plan play out exactly as he'd expected, enjoying his innocent and slightly puzzled act. And at the very end of the briefing, Abbott put the cherry on top by announcing that all leaves and transfers were cancelled because the chief wanted everyone on the case. "Lisbon," he added, "I know you were scheduled to start desk duty on Monday, but the chief wants our best, and that includes you. Are you okay to go to Miami with us?"

"Wait a minute," Jane protested, now playing the overprotective dad-to-be. "She's sixteen weeks pregnant. She shouldn't be in the field."

"Jane," she reproved. Then she addressed Abbott. "I'm fine to travel, do interviews, that sort of thing. I'd like to avoid any arrests or situations where there's likely to be physical danger."

"Of course. We'll make assignments accordingly," he assured her. "Cho, Fischer, get a team together, head down to Miami. Start by finding and debriefing all of the original investigators. Jane, any read on this code or whatever it is?"

"Nope." Jane maintained his clueless demeanor, remaining seated when Abbott asked for a moment in his office. Lisbon was unhappy, and he wanted to make sure she was okay with this. His whole plan was meant for her enjoyment, after all.

"We'll close this one quickly; he wants to be caught. Besides, we get to go to Miami. That's a fun place, right?"

"I guess," Lisbon said without enthusiasm.

"So cheer up. This is going to be our last case together for a while. Let's make it a happy one."

"It's a murder case," she pointed out, looking at him like he was crazy.

"Well, yeah. We've had fun before, haven't we?" He'd always tried to bring a little sunshine into her life, even when they were working. Especially when they were working. It was a hard job, and sometimes their spirits needed bolstering.

"You know what, you're right. I'll cheer up," she replied, obviously prepared to indulge him on what should have been their abbreviated, staycation honeymoon.

He smiled lovingly at her. "Great. Good."

Then he was off to Abbott's office, where his boss proved a little too sharp for Jane's comfort. "You're acting weird."

"Weird?" Jane decided to play the innocent for all he was worth.

"Yeah. You're acting cool about stuff that I know you can't be cool with," Abbott said. "Anything you want to tell me?"

"No," Jane replied honestly.

"All right." Abbott gave up, having learned from experience when it was useless to argue with Jane.

Smirking to himself, Jane headed for the break room to wash his cup and saucer before heading home to pack. Everything was going perfectly to plan.

mmm

In Miami, Lisbon rolled her eyes at the classic convertible Jane insisted on renting, but he caught her smiling as they drove along the coast, looking gorgeous in the warm sunshine with the wind in her hair. She was a fantasy come to life, and it was all he could do to stop himself from finding a place to pull over and take her for a tumble in the ample backseat, to the sound of the waves and the gulls wheeling overhead.

When they reached the DeJorio place, he invited her to enjoy the view while they waited to interview the husband. "Wow, look at those sailboats. Pelicans, too. We should do a nautical theme for the nursery. Or a beach theme. Sand, shells, starfish. A happy environment."

"Right, because sharp objects babies can put in their mouths are always a good idea in a nursery," Lisbon retorted. Then she relented. "Pictures would be nice, though."

"Mm, not the same," Jane sighed, turning to greet Mr. DeJorio.

The interview went as Jane had expected. The family was screwed up, but not guilty. Lisbon was surprised by, but not suspicious of, his theory that the letter wasn't from the killer, which was a relief. She knew him well, so there was a good chance she'd catch on to him before he was ready.

As they left the arguing couple, Jane muttered, "Married life, huh? Whoa."

"Yup," she agreed, looking at him sidelong.

"Not us, of course," he added quickly.

Lisbon rolled her eyes. "Of course not. We never argue. We agree on everything."

Chuckling, Jane said, "Well, on the important things, anyway."

Lisbon steered the conversation back to the case, so he pulled out the code and let her start guessing. This was going to be fun.

mmm

Lisbon was cranky that the music on the car radio made it hard for her to hear Cho, though she was happy to learn there was now an adulterous lover to track down. Those were always promising suspects in her world.

"That's relationships for you, isn't it? They always seem to end up in a tragic web of deceit and betrayal, don't they?" Jane joked.

"The ones we see? Of course they do," Lisbon replied. "Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Teasing me about marrying you. It hasn't even been 24 hours yet."

"I'm not teasing you about marrying me," he protested. "I'm pointing out how lucky we are. What we have, my dear, is the real thing. Not some miserable state of inertia or a lust-fueled affair headed for an explosive finish, but true love. The kind that lasts a lifetime, solid as a rock. Every single person we've met today would give their right arm to have what we have."

Lisbon smiled at him as they walked to Wesley Baxter's trailer. "We are lucky."

"Yes, we are." Jane reached for her hand, and she let him hold it until they reached the door.

Wes Baxter was a kid with a dim future, through no fault of his own, Jane decided. He was glad his plan to catch the killer would exonerate him; maybe Wes could get back on track. He was still young enough to make something of his life. Maybe he and Kristi could even find love.

Lisbon resisted his suggestion of a walk on the beach, but only for a moment. They stopped at a little shop to buy her some beach appropriate footwear, and then Jane set about the delicate task of feeding Lisbon enough clues for her to crack the code. Her happiness at having solved it was ample reward for all his planning, and he even enjoyed her triumph at having bested him. She was adorable when she was preening, and it didn't happen often. He decided he would make an effort to change that. Meanwhile, he smiled, let her tease him, and offered to call the Blue Bird Lodge and see if they could get a room there.

He had a feeling it wouldn't be a problem.

mmm

They spent their second night as a married couple in a nondescript motel on the outskirts of Miami Beach, the only place the FBI per diem allowed. The bed was lumpy, and though Lisbon's victory of cracking the code made her frisky and adventurous, Jane didn't sleep well afterward. But Lisbon did, and she woke happy, eager to head down to Islamorada and solve the case. She was even happier when they arrived at the Blue Bird Lodge and saw how beautiful it was.

The hotel boasted a fine restaurant, by all accounts, and Jane had made sure to book them into it for dinner when he reserved their waterside suite. Now that they were married, it would have looked odd to book two rooms, though he would have preferred to for the purposes of his plan. But he had no intention of starting out their marriage by making his wife think he didn't want to sleep with her.

"Sounds expensive," Lisbon murmured when the receptionist mentioned the waterside suite.

"Oh, why not? Could be our last...hurrah," he replied breezily. It might be, after all. Once they had a child, they'd want one of them to be home at night. They would probably not travel together much, if at all.

He gave instructions about the call he expected for Greta DeJorio, knowing he'd have to let Lisbon in on that part of the plan soon. He'd do it after dinner, he thought, when she was full of good food and less likely to bite his nose off.

Lisbon's face when she saw the room was worth every penny it was costing him, and she was obviously delighted by the dresses he'd had sent up. He congratulated himself as she held them up to herself one by one. "Patrick, it's too much," she protested. "It's too nice. We're on a case."

"It'll be our last case together for a while, so how could anything be too nice?"

"They're beautiful," she said, stroking the fabric of the white dress. Then she went into the bathroom, impressed by the huge claw foot tub and the soft robes hanging on the back of the door.

The phone rang, and Jane picked it up, puzzled. The receptionist telling him that Cho and Abbott were here was not what he expected at all.

"What is it?"' Lisbon asked.

"Nothing to worry about. Just a little mixup." He gave her a quick kiss. "I'll go straighten it out. Meet you downstairs for dinner."

"Okay." She sounded puzzled but not alarmed, so he smiled at her and left.

mmm

Jane was dismayed to find Abbott and Cho intending to stay—and worse, intent on having dinner in the hotel restaurant. But it wasn't an insurmountable obstacle, he assured himself. So his dinner with Lisbon would be work oriented rather than romantic. The dinner was only a prelude anyway. Catching the bad guy and taking a lovely moonlight stroll along the beach were far more likely to make her happy.

They were seated immediately, Jane making sure he got the best view of the staircase so he could savor the rare sight of Lisbon in a dress. He didn't have long to wait, and he smiled as he saw she was wearing the long pink one that hid the baby bump.

She descended the staircase gracefully, with a loving smile that took his breath away. He reflected on what a lucky man he was, and resolved to keep her believing she was a lucky woman.

Instead of coming over to the table, though, she stopped at the reception desk. Ah. He'd seen her eyeing the robes earlier; she must be asking about buying one, probably for him. She was in for a pleasant surprise, then.

The moment she turned and began striding over toward them, though, he realized the jig was up. Uh oh.

"Teresa," Abbott greeted her. "Wow, you look spiffy."

Lisbon had eyes only for her husband, but Jane knew that in this case it was a very bad sign. "Tell me something. How is it possible that you booked the room here last week, two days before the letter even arrived?"

"Okay, um." He cast about for a cover story, but there was none. Better to fess up, he realized. "You got me. I wrote the letter. It was me. It was, ah, just a ruse, but I'm a hundred percent confident it's going to smoke out the killer." He added the last part hopefully as her expression went from angry to enraged.

The last thing he expected was a glass of water in the face and a furious "Son of a bitch!" from his loving wife before she stormed out of the restaurant.

The plan was now well and truly off the rails.

mmm

When Jane reached the door to their suite, he hesitated. If he used his key, there was no telling what awaited him. A punch in the nose was a distinct possibility; Lisbon had always had a temper, but it was a bit less controlled with her hormones in flux. So he knocked, hoping she would see it as a sign of contrition. "Teresa?"

"Go away," came the unforgiving response.

Did she expect him to sleep in the hallway? He needed to fix this. "Please open the door."

"Go away."

The seriousness of the situation was becoming clear. What he'd thought of as a harmless trick to contrive a beach getaway for their honeymoon, she was taking as evidence of deceit and untrustworthiness. "I'm sorry that I tricked you," he said, meaning it. "I just, I just, uh..."

"You just what, Jane? What were you doing?" she demanded.

He wished desperately that she would let him in. He needed to be able to read her, to let her see his sincerity. "I just wanted this for us. A getaway. A honeymoon."

"You don't give a damn about what I want or need," she flung at him. "It's all about you. You used a woman's murder, Jane. You basically dug her corpse up for this crap! You're so twisted up in your own dishonesty you have no idea how to act like a decent human being. No idea."

"I'm sorry." He hated hearing that from the woman who 48 hours ago had promised to love, honor, and cherish him, but perhaps he deserved it. "Okay? I'm sorry."

"All right, well, if you're really sorry, then solve this goddamn case you dug up. I'm going home, and I don't want to see you again until you've fixed this mess."

He couldn't stand it any longer and opened the door. To his dismay, he saw that she had already changed clothes and packed.

"Teresa, please, don't do this. Let's talk—" He reached for her, but she stepped back.

"We've talked about your dishonesty and your tricks and your selfishness for years, Jane, and what good has it done? None. I thought you were done lying to me. I thought you'd show me more respect than that once I was your wife. And I thought if you did that, you'd be a good example for our child. But you know what? If this is how it's going to be, I don't want to be married to you. And I don't want you around my child!"

Shit, this was worse than he had ever imagined. Her face was breaking his heart as much as her words were shredding it. "This isn't how it's going to be, Teresa. I promise. No more tricks. I just wanted us to have some time—"

"If that was what you wanted, you could have asked me. We could have taken a weekend trip. But no. You wanted to orchestrate everything, have it all your own way. You wanted to laugh up your sleeve at me figuring out that goddamned code! You patronizing asshole!" She turned, picked up her bag, and pushed past him roughly, knocking him too off balance to stop her even if he'd dared try.

The door slammed behind her, and he sank to the floor, leaning against it and letting the tears come.

mmm

It took him a while to get hold of himself. Sitting in one of the comfy chairs making his way through the alcoholic contents of the minibar, he waited for the killer to show up so he could solve this damn case and go do whatever it would take to get Lisbon to forgive him.

The first two arrivals were false alarms, and his evening threatened to turn into a lonely hearts club. Not what he was expecting. Sitting here with two men who'd lost women they loved made him anxious about his marriage. What if this wasn't just a fit of pique? What if she really did decide that she didn't want him in her life? She couldn't keep him away from their child, but she could refuse to be in the same room with him ever again.

"I have to go to the airport," he muttered, heading for the door. He'd leave the case in Cho and Abbott's hands. He had to get to Lisbon.

Of course the killers chose that moment to show up. He managed to text Abbott, and he and Cho showed up just after the nick of time. But at least the killer was arrested, and he was now free to go salvage his life.

Abbott, a married man who doubtless knew the dangers of an enraged wife, handed over his car keys, and Jane set a land-speed record to the Florida Keys Marathon Airport. Lisbon was not taking his calls, which only heightened his fear.

Without his ID, he had no chance of getting through security. In desperation, he found his way outside, where a chain link fence stood between him and Lisbon's plane. He got over it, but he landed wrong, twisting his ankle painfully.

He couldn't let a little thing like pain stop him. By now he was so hyped up on adrenaline and terror that he barely felt it anyway, hobbling to the plane and up the steps as fast as he could. His sense of urgency convinced the flight attendant to open the plane door, and he made his way through the cabin, scanning faces until he found the one he wanted.

"There you are," he said in relief, stopping at her row.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, looking wary.

"There's something I need to say."

"I don't want to see you. Go away," she insisted.

"You're right. You're right, I have forgotten how to act like a normal human being. I play games, I lie, and I trick people to avoid the truth of how I feel. And the thought of letting anyone close to me is terrifying, for obvious reasons. But the truth, Teresa, is that I can't imagine waking up knowing that I won't see you. The truth is, I love you. And I want to be the husband you deserve and to be a good father to our child. That is the truth of how I feel."

Tears were streaming down her face. "Patrick—"

"Just say it's not too late," he begged, feeling tears start to his own eyes. "Please, Teresa. You've given me so many chances I know I don't have the right to ask for another, but please don't give up on me. I want our family to be together. I want us to be happy and I'll do everything I can to make that happen. No more tricks. I promise."

Security found him then, and he obediently put his hands up, his eyes never leaving his wife. She looked alarmed, no doubt because he was being held at gunpoint, but she didn't move to get up. His heart sank.

As he was escorted up the aisle of the plane, he called, "I love you, Teresa. That woman in 12B, I love her. You take care of her!"

Hobbling down the steps, he hoped with everything in him to hear her coming after him, saving him as she'd done so many times before. But she didn't.

This, he realized, was what a broken heart felt like.

mmm

He submitted to the bureaucratic fuss and medical attention, sunk in his despair, until at last he was left alone to think. He could still fix this, he knew. Lisbon wasn't going to divorce him after two days of marriage, after all. She would calm down and realize she wanted to make it work. He would agree to her terms, whatever they were. Even counseling if she wanted, though he doubted it would come to that.

It was early morning by now; there was sunlight streaming in through the small window of the holding room. He hoped she'd made it safely home and was getting some rest, preferably after a nutritious breakfast. Maybe she'd think more kindly of him surrounded by the comforts of their home. She might even call, though TSA had his cell phone.

Abbott and Cho would be looking for him by now, surely. Someone would be along to get him out of here. He'd explain to Abbott that he needed to go home. Maybe Abbott would agree to call Lisbon and assure her that Jane had solved the case as she'd demanded.

Jane repressed a sigh as the door squeaked open again. Really, how many forests were required to be sacrificed because he'd boarded a plane to beg his wife's forgiveness?

He blinked as he realized it was Lisbon sitting down across the table from him. She'd been crying, but she'd tried to hide the signs of it, and she seemed calm. Determined.

This had to be good, right? She was here. She hadn't gone home. She wasn't going to end their marriage in a TSA holding cell, surely.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hi," he croaked, feeling happiness well up inside him like a spring in the desert.

"This is another fine pickle you've gotten yourself in, huh?" She sounded more amused than exasperated.

"Meh. I've seen worse, pickle wise," he replied, keeping his tone as light as he could.

"Yes, you have," she agreed. "How's the ankle?"

"Oh, it's fine. You didn't go to Austin."

"No." She hesitated. "Did you mean what you said?"

"Yes."

"Good." She offered him a small, fleeting smile, still holding herself very closed.

"Just to be clear, we're talking about pickles, right?" He needed to get her to loosen up.

"No. No. The other thing." She seemed to be okay with his joking around, which was a good sign.

"Oh, that."

She tried to give him a stern look. "This is no joking matter."

"Yes, I meant what I said. Every word of it."

"Good. Because I feel the same way. I want our family to be together," she said, her voice thick with tears.

He desperately wanted her not to cry, so he gave her a big smile and teased, "Well, that's lucky." Then he sobered. "I am sorry for tricking you. I didn't realize you'd take it so hard. It's a mistake I have no intention of ever repeating. But I did solve the case."

"I know. Abbott called." She tilted her head a little. "No more tricks, ever again. Not on me."

"Never," he promised.

"Good. Because when I promised to love you for better or for worse, I didn't realize you were going to do your best to get yourself on the no-fly list."

He smiled. "There's nothing I wouldn't do to be with you, Teresa." He sobered. "You are the most important person in the world to me, and I will do anything, anything to convince you to stay with me."

She was silent for a moment. Then she scrunched her nose adorably and said, "Say it again."

"Say what again?" he asked.

"You could start with 'I'm sorry' and go from there," she replied.

"I'm sorry. I love you. Please don't ever leave me," he said. Then he got up, balancing on one foot and bracing himself on the table with one hand while lifting her chin with the other. He brought his lips to hers and whispered, "I will make you happy. I'll be a good husband and father. I promise."

"I'm sorry I threatened to leave you," she whispered back. "I love you."

Then he kissed her. Not the quick peck he'd normally give her in public, but a deep, sweet kiss that made her sigh into his mouth with happiness.

"Hey! Quit that!" The guard rapped on the window to get their attention, but they ignored him.

When Jane had to sit back down, Lisbon smiled at him. "Okay. Now that's settled, I'll get you out of here. Everybody else is heading back to Austin today, but Abbott said we could take tomorrow off. I thought we'd go back to Islamorada and have that getaway you wanted."

He beamed at her. "Anything you want, my love."

mmm

They went back to Blue Bird Lodge and relaxed on the balcony of their suite, then took a nap in the wonderfully soft bed. When they woke, they made love, and then Lisbon put the pink dress back on and they had a wonderful dinner.

With Jane's ankle hurting, they had to skip a walk on the beach, but they sat on the balcony, snuggled up together on a wicker love seat as they admired the moonlight on the waves. Jane eventually coaxed Lisbon into his lap, where it was easier to sprinkle kisses on her exposed shoulders and neck.

She laid her head on his shoulder, not saying anything. He could feel her thinking hard about something, though.

"Bed?" he suggested.

"I...I want to talk. About things," she said softly.

"Okay." He kissed her behind her ear. "I'm listening, love."

"I know I shouldn't have threatened to leave you. And I shouldn't have said I didn't want you in our child's life. I...I want you to know that I'd never keep you away from him, no matter what happened between us. Okay?"

"Thank you," he said.

"I just...I've never been so mad. I think I went a little crazy, almost. You've been so good lately, I forgot what it felt like to be on the wrong end of one of your cons. And it made me remember...a lot of things. From the old days. And I got scared." She took a deep breath. "Because if you were up to your old tricks, how could I trust you to be there when I need you?"

"I will be, Teresa. I promise I will be here for you. Always." He tightened his arms around her.

Her voice was very small as she said, "You left me so many times, Patrick. It hurt worse each time. I don't know if I could take it if you did it again. Especially now."

"I'm not going anywhere, Teresa. That's what our rings mean. We're together, no matter what. We don't leave each other. I never left you because I wanted to, and now there's nothing that could ever convince me to." He slid one hand over the baby. "Nothing."

Lisbon slipped one of her hands over his and turned her face into his neck. He could feel her tears, so he rubbed her back gently with his free hand.

"I lost one family through arrogance. Carelessness. I'm not losing our family. Not for anything. I promise you that, Teresa."

She kissed his neck. "And I promise you," she said tearfully, "that you won't lose us through anything I can possibly prevent."

"Thank you." He tilted her face up for a kiss. "And now, if you'll help me over to the bed, I'd like to make love to you in the moonlight."

"Mm. That sounds wonderful."

mmm

As they lay in each other's arms, pleasantly worn out and catching their breaths, Lisbon said, "Despite the way you went about it, I'm glad we came here. We did get justice for a murdered woman, and it's beautiful here. You were right; we needed some time to ourselves."

"Mm hm," Jane responded, stroking her hair. "As far as I'm concerned, we can never have too much of that."

"We should come back here for our anniversary," Lisbon yawned.

"Definitely. Every anniversary." He grinned. "And we should name the baby Blue Bird."

Lisbon was seized by a fit of giggles. "Blue Bird Jane? No!"

"Blue as a middle name, then," he persisted, loving the sound of her laughter. "Something as unique as she will be. Tiffany Blue."

"No!" Lisbon thumped him playfully on the shoulder. "Names aren't what make a person unique. He will be, anyway. He could hardly avoid it with you for a father."

"Was that a compliment?" he wondered.

"Maybe," she teased. Then she nuzzled his neck. "I want a traditional name. One of them should be a saint's name; that's traditional in my family."

Fortunately, there were plenty of saints, Jane reflected. "Francis Blue Jane?"

"No Blue!" she insisted.

"Sophia Bird Jane," he suggested.

"Patrick, we are not naming our daughter Bird! Or our son! Forget it," she retorted.

"Oh, so you're in charge of this process now, are you?" he teased, gripping her waist and turning her to her back so he could cover her, careful not to rest all his weight on her.

"Our child will thank me," she predicted, wriggling enticingly. "Besides, if I let you name this one Blue, you'll try naming the next one Ultraviolet or Burnt Sienna."

Jane laughed out loud, then kissed her. "Next one? Ambitious, aren't we?"

"Well we didn't have to work very hard to get this one," she pointed out.

"Speak for yourself," he said, pretending to be offended. "I gave you everything I had that night."

"My memory's a little hazy," she smiled. "You might need to remind me."

"My pleasure."

mmm

The next morning, Jane had a distinct sense of déjà vu, waking up tangled in the sheet with the bedding in disarray. But this time when he rolled over, his wife was gloriously naked in the morning light, curled on her side facing him, still deeply asleep.

He wriggled free of the sheet and scooted down to say good morning to the baby. "Good morning," he whispered. "Today we're taking you to the beach again, just to enjoy ourselves this time. I can't wait until you're old enough to build sand castles and play in the waves. You're going to love it." He kissed the bump, then added, "I sure hope you're going to be smarter than your old man. I screwed up big time yesterday and made your mom really mad. But it's okay now. And we have a really funny story to tell you when you're older." He paused. "Much older."

Scooting up to lay his head on Lisbon's pillow, he kissed her forehead and slid his hand to rest in the curve of her waist. He was going to savor lying here breathing in her scent and basking in her warmth. This was the only honeymoon they were going to get, after all.

And as long as she was with him, it was perfect.


End file.
